Ergonomics Commons^™

Level Of Agreement In The Mental Models Of Human Factors Practitioners And Systems Engineers Working In Collaborative Teams, Jerry A. Gordon

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Emerging research in complexity science recognizes traditional techniques for engineering systems do not always work for complex systems. Designing complex systems requires individuals to have knowledge of engineering as well as human performance. To this end, design efforts rely often on multi-disciplinary teams. While any two members of a design team may view the system design problem in vastly different manners, this study sought to identify a possible systemic effect on approach by the differing education and experience obtained by social practitioners, represented by human factors, and technical practitioners, represented by systems engineers. It further examined the impact of the …

An Investigation Of Medical Device Design And Physical Ergonomics In Healthcare, Adam E. De Laveaga

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human factors and process engineering are becoming a prominent area of research and application for industrial engineering principles as healthcare providers seek to improve patient safety, quality the optimization of resources. Human factors engineering and ergonomics play a crucial role in the pursuit of operational excellence and patient safety in healthcare. These disciplines contain the tools required to develop instrumentation, technology and training that can improve the usability of medical technology and the quality of care that patients receive. Designing tasks, tools and processes for optimal human use can enhance performance, reduce errors and improve safety. This thesis encompasses three …

Improving Health Care Quality And Safety: The Development And Assessment Of Laparoscopic Surgery Instrumentation, Practices And Procedures, Bernadette Mccrory

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adverse events due to medical errors are a leading cause of death in the United States exceeding the mortality rates of motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer and AIDS. Improvements can and should be made to reduce the rates of preventable surgical errors since they account for nearly half of all adverse events within hospitals. Although minimally invasive surgery has proven patient benefits such as reduced postoperative pain and hospital stay, its operative environment imposes substantial physical and cognitive strain on the surgeon increasing the risk of error. In order to mitigate errors and protect patients, a multidisciplinary approach was taken …

Ergonomics Evaluation Of Task Demands Among Kitchen Staff, Jaqueline Pereira Da Silva

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the workplace demands faced by a group of kitchen staff at six dining centers and to survey musculoskeletal complaints among this sample of workers. The dining centers were located in six different public elementary and middle schools in a city in the south of Brazil. This research was developed following qualitative research design, and the researcher made use of the “Activity Oriented Ergonomics (AOE) methodology.

The AOE focuses on the work analysis that evaluates real work situations that allows a reassessment of work demands. In this case the chosen methodology was a …

Leaving The Lecture Hall: Conducting Hf/E Outside The Classroom, C. B. Fausset, K. R. Bujak, K. A. Kline, Jenay Beer, C.-A. Smarr, A. E. Adams, S. E. Mcbride, J. S. Burnett

Faculty Publications

Georgia Tech HF/E students initiated and managed a multisemester project to experience the nuances of conducting HF/E outside the classroom setting. This article focuses on the lessons learned beyond the classroom: project management, team coordination, communication with non-HF/E team members, application of research methods, and integration of data to prioritize and guide design changes. The goal of this article is to help guide other HF/E students and educators when implementing similar projects by providing the lessons we learned from this experience.

Learning Lessons In Resilient Traffic Management: A Cross-Domain Study Of Vessel Traffic Service (Vts) And Air Traffic Control (Atc), Gesa Praetorius, Fulko Van Westrenen, Deborah Mitchell, Erik Hollnagel

Gesa Praetorius

Although younger than the maritime domain, aviation has had a huge impact on the system design and development within shipping. Stakeholders often look towards aviation to make shipping, and the way that traffic is handled and organised, safer, more efficient and more effective. Although legally not the same, Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is frequently compared to Air Traffic Control (ATC). In this article the area of traffic management within the maritime and aviation domains is addressed from a Resilience Engineering perspective. Focus is placed on the arrival part of a mission. The comparison is based on information collected during two …

Decision Support For Vessel Traffic Service (Vts): User Needs For Dynamic Risk Management In The Vts, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a shore-side service implemented by a “Competent Authority to improve the safety and efficiency of vessel traffic and to protect the environment”. It is a service that operates through VTS centers, from which VTS operators monitor traffic, assist in navigational matters and provide information to all ships in a designated area. As VTS is provided by operators located on shore, they usually make use of several decision support systems to be able to monitor the traffic and to provide information to the vessels. Although several new tools and approaches have been introduced in the VTS …

Safety Within The Vessel Traffic Service (Vts) Domain. Understanding The Role Of The Vts For Safety Within Maritime Traffic Management, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a shore-sided service implemented to promote the safety of navigation, safety of life at sea, and the protection of the marine environment. Its purpose is to work for safe and fluent traffic movements within a determined area, a VTS area. VTS is provided by VTS operators, skilled experts that provide vessels with information and advice, and work for the overall traffic organisation. Although VTS is regulated on an international level there are differences in how the service is provided in between countries, and even VTS centres. This licentiate thesis focuses on understanding the role of …